Dancing with the Enemy is the story of Roosje Glaser, a secular Jewish Dutch woman who led an extraordinary life marked by love, betrayal, and resilience.
Synopsis
Dancing with the Enemy is the story of Roosje Glaser, a secular Jewish Dutch woman who led an extraordinary life marked by love, betrayal, and resilience. Roosje was a skilled dancer and dance teacher who loved jazz music and the company of good-looking men. She married a fellow dance instructor, but they were divorced less than two years later over his Nazi Party enthusiasm. He would later betray her, as did a former lover leading to her final capture.
An amateur photographer whose Aryan good looks allowed her greater mobility than other Jews, Roosje not only flouted Nazi laws by not wearing a yellow star but posed for photographs with German occupation soldiers next to cafe signs that read “no Jews allowed.” She appears rather frivolous in her defiance, seemingly not understanding the severity of her situation. On the other hand, she survived six concentration camps, medical experiments in Auschwitz, and the death march, by seizing a series of opportunities that demonstrate she was spontaneous and daring, but also strategic. The film celebrates a modern-thinking woman who used her individual artistic form to elevate others and live her life to the fullest.
About the Director
Oreet Rees is a documentary filmmaker based in Los Angeles with an extensive career in editing long and short formats, garnering awards and honors in both fields. Her feature documentary filmography includes King Leopold’s Ghost, Playground; 1968: The Year That Changed America; Still Working 9 to 5. As Director/Producer she is focused on animal rights, women’s issues, and social justice with a special interest in Holocaust related stories. She holds a PhD in Depth Psychology and a Fine Arts degree; both disciplines inform her storytelling sensibilities.
Year
In Production
Director
Oreet Rees
Screenplay
Nicole Joens
Stills
